Chapter 5 - The Freezing of Ortega Logistics

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Mauricio stared at the legal packet in his hands, his head spinning as if he had been struck with an iron bar.
Doña Beatriz rushed to the doorway, peering over her son’s shoulder. “What is that?! What did that little peasant send you?!”
Mauricio flipped open the first page.
His eyes locked onto the official legal representation seal stamped at the bottom:
NAVARRO, STERLING & ASSOCIATES — GLOBAL LITIGATION PRACTICE
PRIMARY COUNSEL FOR: VALERIA STERLING-CRUZ, CHAIRWOMAN OF HORIZONTE CAPITAL.
“Horizonte Capital...?” Mauricio whispered, his voice cracking into a high, frightened rasp. “Navarro & Associates? That’s the most expensive corporate litigation firm in the country! Their retainer is fifty thousand dollars an hour!”
“She’s bluffing!” Beatriz shrieked, snatching the papers and tearing at the edges. “She used a fake legal template from the internet to frighten you! She works as an administrative secretary at a small logistics agency!”
Before Mauricio could answer, his father’s cell phone began ringing frantically from the kitchen.
Don Hector answered it. Within ten seconds, a horrifying, strangled gasp echoed through the hallway.
“Hector?! What is it?!” Beatriz cried out, rushing back to the dining room.
Don Hector dropped his phone onto the table, his face turning an ashen, ghostly white. He clutched his chest, sinking into his chair.
“The bank...” Hector choked out, his chest heaving with panic. “Banorte and BBVA just called our chief accountant. All of our commercial credit lines have been frozen with immediate effect.”
Mauricio hurried into the room. “Dad, what are you talking about? We have an eighty-five-million-peso contract with the Reforma Tower project!”
“The Reforma Tower contract was canceled ten minutes ago!” Hector shouted, tears of pure terror filling his weathered eyes. “The project developers sent a formal termination notice citing fiduciary misconduct! And that’s not all... Horizonte Capital just filed an emergency asset seizure order on our heavy transport fleet! The bailiffs are at our warehouse right now putting chains on the trucks!”
Mauricio’s knees buckled. The glass of orange juice slipped from his numb fingers, shattering across the tile floor.
“Horizonte Capital...” Mauricio murmured, the room spinning violently around him. “Valeria... she told me yesterday she worked in finance...”
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“You idiot!” Hector roared, slamming his fist onto the table so hard the breakfast plates rattled. “Who the hell did you marry?!”
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